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I N T R O D U C T I O N HONG KONG , COLONIA L SOCIET Y Hong฀Kon g฀was฀a ฀China฀coas t฀city.฀I t฀was฀b y฀an d฀larg e฀a฀Chinese฀city .฀I t฀was฀a฀ metropolis.฀Bu t฀above฀all,฀it฀was฀a฀colony.฀ Hong฀Kon g฀becam e฀a ฀Britis h฀colon y฀fro m฀1842 .฀I t฀outlaste d฀mos t฀Britis h฀ colonies.฀Post-Second฀World฀War฀Britai n฀lost฀its฀world฀power฀status฀and฀gave฀up฀ most฀of฀it s฀colonies;฀i n฀the฀pursuit฀of฀an฀open฀door฀int o฀Europe ,฀it฀gave฀up฀eve n฀ the฀British฀Commonwealth.฀But฀colonial฀status฀lingered฀on฀in฀Hong฀Kong฀because,฀ as฀i t฀wa s฀sai d฀i n฀th e฀1960s ,฀Chin a฀tolerate d฀it ,฀Britai n฀sa w฀n o฀alternativ e฀t o฀ continuing฀an d฀th e฀Hon g฀Kon g฀peopl e฀wante d฀it .฀B y฀the฀1980s ,฀tha t฀situatio n฀ changed.฀ Even฀at฀it s฀mightiest,฀Britai n฀ha d฀n o฀social฀polic y฀o n฀Hon g฀Kon g฀as฀such.฀It฀ applied฀Britis h฀justice฀and฀periodically฀enforce d฀standards฀that฀had฀been฀tried฀i n฀ Britain,฀whethe r฀o r฀no t฀the y฀ha d฀succeede d฀i n฀Britai n฀o r฀wer e฀suite d฀t o฀Hon g฀ Kong.฀I t฀i s฀har d฀t o฀understan d฀wh y฀th e฀Hon g฀Kon g฀governmen t฀woul d฀hav e฀ promoted฀a ฀Housin g฀Societ y฀togethe r฀wit h฀a ฀Resettlemen t฀Departmen t฀i n฀th e฀ 1950s฀unles s฀on e฀realize s฀tha t฀the฀Britis h฀hom e฀governmen t฀sough t฀to฀provid e฀ housing฀i n฀Britai n฀throug h฀th e฀combine d฀effort s฀o f฀buildin g฀societie s฀an d฀loca l฀ councils.฀It฀is฀also฀hard฀to฀understand฀why฀i n฀the฀1970 s฀Hong฀Kong฀should฀hav e฀ adopted฀a ฀sudde n฀spat e฀o f฀labou r฀legislatio n฀unti l฀on e฀see s฀tha t฀a ฀Labou r฀ government฀had฀come฀to฀power฀in฀London฀and฀that฀British฀Members฀of฀Parliament฀ and฀the฀Britis h฀press฀in฀the฀1960s฀had฀been฀painting฀Hon g฀Kong฀as฀a฀sweatshop.฀ Hong฀Kon g฀peopl e฀di d฀no t฀demand฀housing ,฀social฀welfare ,฀legislation ,฀police ,฀ not฀even฀universal฀education;฀but,฀in฀post-war฀Hong฀Kong,฀they฀had฀been฀granted฀ by฀act s฀o f฀benevolen t฀government .฀Onc e฀granted ,฀however ,฀man y฀Hon g฀Kon g฀ people฀delighted฀in฀having฀these฀provisions.฀In฀this฀way,฀the฀benevolent฀provisions฀ of฀th e฀Hon g฀Kon g฀government ,฀togethe r฀wit h฀othe r฀provision s฀tha t฀wer e฀les s฀ benevolent,฀wove฀their฀way฀int o฀Hon g฀Kon g฀society.฀ A฀superimpose d฀governmen t฀wa s฀the฀mar k฀o f฀the฀colonia l฀status .฀Bu t฀ther e฀ must฀have฀been฀a฀society฀on฀which฀i t฀was฀superimposed.฀ 2฀ Society Society an d th e Real m o f Politic s To describe Hong Kong society, one must return to the fundamentals of the concept. The concept 'society ' wa s a creation o f the Europea n Enlightenment , create d t o represent a movement that informe d king s that their subjects shoul d suitabl y b e governed b y th e law s o f natur e rathe r tha n thei r will . Subsequen t t o th e Enlightenment, the concept went through a strange history. Because no government was willing to acknowledge that it s will ha d bee n impose d i n total ignoranc e of the demand s o f nature , government s hav e take n variou s mean s t o ensur e tha t nature an d polic y migh t meet. Dictator s argue that their theories tell them wha t nature might demand; democrats say that they would as k the people. The theory of benevolen t governmen t t o whic h bot h subscrib e argue s tha t th e tes t o f th e theory lie s ultimately i n whether i t works. Nature bein g a silent partne r t o this relationshi p betwee n government s an d their people, whether governments and their policies work can...

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